St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-16

I don't shoot great deal now, because I
don't want to get down to the hard work
of training. and as nobody has yet beaten
my featS, there3 is no occasion for it. The
favOrite story about me is that [ shoot with
dueling pistol through the ring of my
watch at twenty PAGES. That is nonsense
A ball from a dueling pistol wouldn't go
through the ring of watch. and no sane
man ever tried to make it do So
| have shot objects off the stem, with the
ring turned down out of the way. and that
probably is the basis of the absurd story
Target shooting, dueling and Western
quick shooting in fight are three widely
different things. In shooting at a target
the arm is extended straight from the
shoulder, the hand grasps the pistol butt
high up. with the thumb extended along
the lock plate, and everything
is in line and the position easy and
erect That position would not do for
dueling, however. The duelst shoots with
bent arm, not for accuracy, but for better
protection. He turns his side toward his
enemy III order to offer as small mark as
possible, and his arm protects his body
from his shoulder to the waist. If he ex-
tended his arm he would leave his vtals
exposed. If bullet strikes his arm the
chances are it will either stop there or glance
from the bone without making dangerous
wound. But the arm is contracted and
strained, the WI st must be bent unnaturaly
and the aim is impaired. To get the barrel
level. the hand must grasp the butt low
down and the thumb is bent around the
handle. 1t is difficult to shoot we'll in that
style. but dueliSts rarely are anxious to
shoot too accurately. The American
trontiersman's method is different from
both the others. He generally shoots in a
hurry and doesn't have time to
take a sidewise position. Pulling his
weapon, he steps forward, throwing his
weight mainly upon the right foot. and
brings his pistol down belowthe level of his
shoulder, firing as soon as he gets the
weapon in line. 1t requires practice and
nerve to shoot well in that style, because
usually the target has gun, too. There
are fewer good shots on the frontier than
most people think, and fol every man hit in
a gun fight out West, there are
pounds of lead thrown away. When the
cowboy turns his revolver loose the
principal danger is to people in the vicinity
who haven't any interest in the row and
don't want to get hit. Very few cowboys
could put twenty shots into a two inch ring
at fifteen PAGES. and there are plenty of
best of them. "Mr. Lord himself has made two
consecutive clean scores with the revolver,
shooting first a 44-caliber and then pick
ing up 3S-caliber to shoot the second score.
Makers of revOlverS are working upon some
new ideas and will soon be ready to meet
the requirements of marksmen with special
patterns. One of the most important
changes needed is in the shape of the
handle, the general line Of which should be
almost at right angles with the barrel.
When the handle slopes off. as i'll the old
duelling pistol, the wrist must be bent in
order to bring the barrel down to a level.
That draws the cords of the first
finger to their extreme tension, and VIXEN
the finger is pressed upon the trigger, the
contraction of the muscles tends to
straghten the wrist and raise the muzzle of
the weapon. When the handle is at right
angles and made to fit the hand, the barrel
is found to be level without any bend of the
wrist, and the contraction of the trigger
finger is in direct line with the arm. One
pistol shooter has revolver built on this
plan. and the correctness of the principle is
recognized by marksmen as soon as they
take hold of the weapon.